California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Trading 3.1% Higher – Here’s Why

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT)’s share price shot up 3.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $50.22 and last traded at $49.99. 164,924 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 334,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised California Water Service Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.25.

California Water Service Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.31, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.40.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $222.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.37 million. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 13.24%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

California Water Service Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from California Water Service Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. California Water Service Group’s dividend payout ratio is 36.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CWT. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 751.3% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in California Water Service Group in the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 785.8% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Water Service Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $78,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of California Water Service Group by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.78% of the company’s stock.

California Water Service Group Company Profile

California Water Service Group, through its subsidiaries, provides water utility and other related services in California, Washington, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Texas. The company is involved in the production, purchase, storage, treatment, testing, distribution, and sale of water for domestic, industrial, public, and irrigation uses, as well as for fire protection services.